SUMMARY REPORT TO THE
LEGISLATURE
(Social Service Transportation Inventories/Action Plan Updates)
As required by California Government Code
Section 15977
JULY 2002
The electronic version of this document is a draft only that does not match the format of the original document. TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
I. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 1
II. BACKGROUND 2
III. FINDINGS AND ANALYSIS 3
IV. TABLE 1, SUMMARY OF AGENCY REPORTS 5
V. REPORTING AGENCY RESPONSES 6
APPENDICES
A. Social Service Transportation Inventory Form, Sample Action Plan Update, Guidelines for Action Plan Update
B. Social Services Transportation Improvement Act,
California Government Code Sections 15950-1597
I. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
This legislatively mandated summary report is compiled by the California Department of Transportation (Department) using data provided by Regional Transportation Planning Agencies (RTPAs) and County Transportation Commissions (CTCs) on public and private social service transportation services in the State of California. This year’s report contains social service transportation inventories and action plan updates from the State’s reporting agencies (RTPAs) and (CTCs). The inventories are in the first half of the document and the action plan updates are in the second half of the document. In general, the action plan updates were fairly comprehensive and covered the specific items outlined in Government Code sections 15975 and 15975.1.
Two data collection instruments (see Appendix A) were distributed to the RTPAs and CTCs:
· a Social Service Transportation Inventory Form,
· a sample Action Plan Update with guidelines.
The Social Service Transportation Improvement Act is the governing authorization for the Social Service Transportation Inventory Form and Action Plan. The contents of the Social Service Transportation Inventory Form are based on Government Code Section 15977. The contents of the Action Plan Update are based on Government Code Sections 15975 and 15975.1. (See Background section for more detail.)
The original intent of the legislation was to encourage consolidation of social service transportation providers, which resulted in the formation of many Consolidated Transportation Service Agencies (CTSAs) throughout the state. The CTSA’s role is to identify the various social service transportation providers in their area and encourage consolidation of services. Prior to the passage of the Social Service Transportation Improvement Act, there was no formal mechanism to consolidate social service transportation.
The legislative language in the Social Service Transportation Improvement Act is permissive rather than mandatory; this has resulted in RTPAs and CTCs receiving incomplete information from the various social service transportation providers in their jurisdiction. The summary reports compiled by the Department and submitted to the Legislature have been incomplete and have not allowed the Department to accurately analyze social service transportation needs throughout California.
The last summary report listed a number of options for the future of the report. One option included eliminating the report if no longer of value to the Governor or Legislature. During year 2001, the Department surveyed all the reporting agencies (RTPAs and CTCs) regarding the value and cost to prepare the Social Service Transportation Inventory Reports/Action Plan Updates and found that the reporting agencies overwhelmingly rated both documents of low value and high cost.
From the agencies that responded, a numerical average score of 2.3 resulted regarding the importance of the two documents, with 5.0 equal to very important or effective. In addition, agencies estimated that the cost to prepare the documents was $999,990 over a four-year period. It was estimated that this figure was actually over $1.2 million and perhaps double that amount, since it excluded the administrative costs of the large number of public transit agencies and private social service transportation agencies who provide the initial data to the reporting agencies, the costs to the reporting agencies that did not respond to the questionnaire and the costs for the Department to prepare the report.
Since the Social Service Transportation Improvement Act was enacted, the goal of coordinated social service transportation has been achieved through various means, including the CTSAs, thereby, making the legislation to require the submittal of the inventories and action plan updates obsolete. The Departmental Transportation Advisory Committee, which recently reviewed this report, concurs with this conclusion. Based on the accomplishment of coordinated social service transportation throughout the state, the high cost to produce the report, and its historical lack of value to the Department and local reporting agencies, it is recommended that the legislative reporting requirement be eliminated.
II. BACKGROUND
The original legislative intent in 1979 was to improve social service transportation services by promoting consolidation. It was thought that consolidation would allow providers to accrue benefits from consolidated purchasing, training, dispatching, maintenance, administration, and funding. (See Appendix B for Social Service Transportation Improvement Act, (Act) Government Code, Section 15951). The Act required RTPAs and CTCs to submit to the Department a one-time inventory and action plan, completed in 1980 and 1981 respectively.
In 1988, the Act was amended to require RTPAs and CTCs to update the inventory every four years and the action plan every two years, to submit them to the Department, and to conduct hearings on the action plan. The amended Act, in Section 15977, also required the Department to submit to the Legislature and the Governor a biennial summary of the reports received from the RTPAs and CTCs.
Since 1988, summary reports were submitted to the Legislature and Governor in 1990, 1992, 1994 and 2000 (actually submitted in 2001). The 1990 report includes only an inventory and the 1992 report includes only an action plan. The 1994 and the 2000 summary reports contain only an inventory.
Legislation enacted in 1992 (Chapter 710, AB2824-Speier) and in 1996 (Chapter 970, AB116-Speier) suspended production of many state agency reports, including the summary reports required under the Act. This is the second summary report submitted by the Department since the suspension was lifted in 1999.
III. FINDINGS AND ANALYSIS
This summary report was compiled using data provided by the RTPAs and CTCs (48 total reporting agencies) on public and private social service transportation services in the state of California. Out of the 48 inventory forms and action plans sent out, the Division of Mass Transportation Program received 28 Social Service Transportation Inventory Report forms for a response rate of 58% and 30 Action Plan Updates for a response rate of 63%. Please refer to Table 1 for a summary of the agencies that submitted their inventories/action plan updates.
The following section from the Social Service Transportation Inventory Forms summarizes the reporting agencies’ responses to specific information requested in the Act:
1.) The general inventory summary of all existing public and private social service transportation services within the state.
Almost every reporting agency submitted data for this category. The number of private social service transportation agencies usually is less accurate than the public transportation providers because there are significantly more agencies and they do not all submit the inventory forms to the reporting agencies. As such, the inventory included in this report does not provide a true representation of available social service transportation services in California, especially since the s-tate’s response rate was only 54%.
2.) A description of the total funding utilized by those services.
Almost every reporting agency submitted data for this category.
3.) The type and number of social service recipients being served.
Almost every reporting agency submitted data for this category, although the numbers for specific categories (i.e. physically, mentally disabled, etc.) may be missing.
4.) The number of drivers and managers of the services.
Almost every reporting agency submitted data for this category.
5.) Annual operating, capital, and administrative costs for the services.
This section had a higher frequency of unknown information than the other areas of the inventory form. Approximately 20% of the private sector costs were unknown.
6.) Average vehicle miles traveled per month.
Only one agency did not submit this information.
7.) A summary of eligibility requirements for receiving transportation services.
Only two agencies did not submit this information.
8.) A description of the background of social service transportation in the state and any other pertinent information necessary to adequately document and describe the service.
Only one agency did not submit this information
REPORTING AGENCY / ACTION PLAN UPDATE / INVENTORYALPINE
AMADOR / SUBMITTED UNFORMATTED DATA; NOT INCLUDED IN SUMMARY REPORT.
BUTTE / YES / YES
CALAVERAS
COLUSA
DEL NORTE / YES / YES
EL DORADO / SUBMITTED UNFORMATTED DATA; NOT INCLUDED IN SUMMARY REPORT.
FRESNO
GLENN / YES / YES
HUMBOLDT / SUBMITTED UNFORMATTED DATA; NOT INCLUDED IN SUMMARY REPORT.
IMPERIAL
INYO / NO / YES
KERN
KINGS / YES / YES
LAKE / YES / NO
LASSEN / YES / YES
LOS ANGELES
MADERA / YES / YES
MARIPOSA / YES / YES
MENDOCINO / YES / YES
MERCED / YES / YES
MTC* / YES / NO
MODOC / YES / YES
MONO / YES / YES
MONTEREY
NEVADA / YES / YES
ORANGE / YES / YES
PLACER / YES / YES
PLUMAS
RIVERSIDE / YES / YES
SACRAMENTO
SAN BENITO
SAN BERNARDINO / YES / YES
SAN DIEGO / YES / YES
SAN JOAQUIN / YES / YES
SAN LUIS OBISPO / YES / YES
SANTA BARBARA / YES / YES
SANTA CRUZ / YES / YES
SHASTA / YES / YES
SIERRA
SISKIYOU / YES / YES
STANISLAUS
TAHOE / YES / NO
TEHAMA / YES / YES
TRINITY
TULARE / YES / YES
TUOLUMNE / YES / YES
VENTURA / YES / YES
NON RESPONSIVE COUNTIES
*Includes Solano, Alameda, Contra Costa, Sonoma, Marin, Napa, San Francisco, San Mateo,
Santa Clara
V. REPORTING AGENCY RESPONSES
SOCIAL SERVICE TRANSPORTATION INVENTORY FORMS
BUTTE COUNTY ASSOCIATION OF GOVERNMENTS INVENTORY FORM
Date Inventory Was Approved: December 2001
1. General Inventory Summary
Number of Public Transportation Agencies: 4
Number of Private (Non-profit) Social Service Transportation Agencies: 15
Number of Private (For-profit) Social Service Transportation Agencies: 0
Total Number (Both public and private): 19
Public
/Private
Total # of Vehicles: 54 / Total # of Vehicles: 82# of Buses: 34 / # of Buses: Unknown
# of Vans: 20 / # of Vans: 40
# of Autos: Unknown / # of Autos: 42
# of Lift Equipped Vehicles: 54 / # of Lift Equipped Vehicles: 35
2. Total Funding (Source and Amount from all Agencies)
Federal: Amount: Unknown
State: Amount: $1,500,000
Local: Amount: $2,200,000
3. Types and Number of Social Service Recipients
Types of Recipients
/Number of Recipients
Elderly / UnknownChildren / Unknown
Youth/Teens / Unknown
Wheelchair / Unknown
Low Income / Unknown
Physically Disabled / Unknown
Mentally Disabled / Unknown
Native Americans / Unknown
Alcohol/Drug Patients / Unknown
Other: / Unknown
4. Drivers & Management
# of Full Time Drivers: 80 # of Full Time Managers: 5
# of Part-Time Drivers: 20 # of Part-Time Managers: 14
# of Volunteer Drivers: 10 # of Volunteer Managers: Unknown
5. Annual Operating, Capital, and Administrative Costs for the Services
Public
Operating Costs Capital Costs Administrative Costs
$1,710,000 $140,000 $50,000
Private
Operating Costs Capital Costs Administrative Costs
Unknown Unknown Unknown
BUTTE COUNTY ASSOCIATION OF GOVERNMENTS INVENTORY FORM
6. Average Vehicle Miles Traveled Per Month: 178,000
7. Please Summarize Eligibility Requirements for Receiving Transportation Services (i.e., age group, type of disabilities, specific income groups, etc.):
Each private agency determines eligibility for receiving transportation services. Social Service Public Transportation is available to the elderly (62+) and the handicapped.
8. Description of the Background of Social Service Transportation (this includes an overview of when social service transportation began, cities or counties served, the majority of the type of trips and clients, urban or rural service and other unique characteristics of social service transportation in the area):
Butte County boasts a network of social service agencies providing specialized transportation. Most agencies provide transit tickets, mileage reimbursement, or a combination of mechanisms. Several agencies have their own vehicles and staff providing curb-to-curb or door-to-door paratransit service. Ridership in private agencies is limited to clients based on the individulal agency's criteria.
The largest single private Social Service Transportation provider in Butte County is the Work Training Center utilizing 30 vans. The public paratransit systems began operation in Butte County in the early 1970s. The paratransit systems are available in the cities of Chico, Paradise, Oroville and Gridley. Based on a community service philosophy, all the public paratransit systems provide higher levels of service than required by the ADA. The public systems work closely with the Far Northern Regional Center to coordinate services.
DEL NORTE LOCAL TRANSPORTATION COMMISSION INVENTORY FORM
Date Inventory Was Approved: March 2002
1. General Inventory Summary
Number of Public Transportation Agencies: 1
Number of Private (Non-profit) Social Service Transportation Agencies: 1
Number of Private (For-profit) Social Service Transportation Agencies: 0
Total Number (Both public and private): 2
Public
/Private
Total # of Vehicles: 8 / Total # of Vehicles: 3# of Buses: 8 / # of Buses: Unknown
# of Vans: 0 / # of Vans: 3
# of Autos: 0 / # of Autos: 0
# of Lift Equipped Vehicles: 8 / # of Lift Equipped Vehicles: 3
2. Total Funding (Source and Amount from all Agencies)
Federal: Amount: $ 59,949
State: Amount: $499,799
Local: Amount: $ 61,810
3. Types and Number of Social Service Recipients
Types of Recipients
/Number of Recipients
Elderly / 18,162Children / 16
Youth/Teens / 15,823
Wheelchair / 1,828
Low Income / 192
Physically Disabled / 5,938
Mentally Disabled / 4,311
Native Americans / 96
Alcohol/Drug Patients / 16
Other: / Unknown
4. Drivers & Management
# of Full Time Drivers: 9 # of Full Time Managers: 2
# of Part-Time Drivers: 7 # of Part-Time Managers: 0
# of Volunteer Drivers: 0 # of Volunteer Managers: 0
5. Annual Operating, Capital, and Administrative Costs for the Services
Public
Operating Costs Capital Costs Administrative Costs
$521,440 $60,000 $9,500
Private
Operating Costs Capital Costs Administrative Costs
$25,999 $1,019 $3,600
DEL NORTE LOCAL TRANSPORTATION COMMISSION INVENTORY FORM